Bahamas Dinghy Gunwale

 15 Aug 26:

We attached the new gunwale to the Bahamas Dinghy HENNING today, first marked the screw hole with a fender washer spacer.

Drilled a countersunk pilot hole with Fuller combination countersink pilot bit, #6 size.

The DeWALT impact driver was gets the job done with care, the silicon bronze Frearson head fasteners can cam out easily if driven too hard. A brace bit would be better.

Trimmed the ends with a Japanese pull saw.

HENNING is ready to ram other boats now, especially expensive yachts.

Took out the floorboards and thwarts in prep for paint.

Log of HENNING.

Cobwebs and Seagull Motor

 15 Jul 26:

Quite a day, we cleaned cobwebs out of the corners of the garage so that the new cat could explore, and he certainly did.

I bought a British Seagull outboard a few years back as a joke, to see if Skipper wanted to put one back on her British Drascombe Lugger. She chuckled, but declined. ONKAHYE originally had a Seagull but it had the wrong prop, which caused it to shake all of the screws loose. Skipper learned a few salty sailor words from her Dad Capn Jack, and they say that the Seagull was the motor that taught them to sail everywhere. Capn Jack traded the motor for a Christmas tree and learned to row also. 

We are selling the Seagull, its a 40 Plus, 64cc (2-3 hp) and too small for the Lugger anyway. We're throwing in the tools and parts I bought when I thought maybe I'd open a Seagull repair shop...

The British Bahamas Dinghy was tolerant of my antics, but said it prefers to be a voile et aviron vehicle.

1977 build, long shaft, the prop turns by hand but I never ran it. The previous owner claims that he ran it about a decade ago.

If you are near Newport News, VA, have $200 and need a 2-3hp Seagull, send me an gmail to lewis dot kent

Checking In

 02 Jul  26:

It's the time of year where folks are hitting the road with small boats on trailers, heading off to a variety of locations and events. And then the reports of trailer tire blowouts and hot bearings start to come in. It has surprised me that people will put years of planning into attending long distance raids and endurance events, but not put a new set of tires on a trailer or service trailer bearings. And hopefully they take a look at their tow vehicle tires as well.

Here's a photo of a passenger van tire that I came across recently, it was so old that we couldn't find the Month Year (MMYY) manufacture date code on the sidewall. Two of the other tires were well over 6 years old and mismatched, so the van got a newer set of matching tires with less than 2 years use. The tires get damaged by UV and road conditions, as evidenced by the dry rot inside the trad lugs and on the sidewall. 

Ford recommends that these vehicles have matching tires with similar tread depth wear, at a minimum the tires should match side to side on each axle, optimum is for all four tires to be of same manufacturer and model. For heavy-duty models like the 15 passenger vans, tire safety is strictly regulated. Organizations often recommend replacing tires on 15-passenger vans even earlier, around the 5-year mark, due to the heavy loads and stresses placed on the vehicle. And proper inflation is critical as well, under inflated tires lead to sidewall flex, heat build up and burst tires. Fortunately we discovered this and got newer tires. 

SO enough about tires, let's talk about small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS). I got to visit a local First Responder's facility and learn about their Drone First Responder (DFR) program. Here's the rooftop sensor that monitors the drone, the landing pad area and local airspace with a variety of sensors...

...and here's their drone-in-a-box, it is normally launched from a control room. 

Bike ride to the local grocery store.

Checking out some old buildings on campus, I'm a fan of the era when buildings had lots of natural light and transom windows.

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!

VA Sail250, Harborfest 50 and SPARTINA 20 Birthday

 20 Jun 26:

We checked out Waterside Norfolk today, the tall ships are in town for VA Sail 250 and Harborfest 50. It's amazing to see how many sail training programs are still out there with State sponsored vessels serving as the classroom. 

We went over hoping to get a glimpse of a few international boats but the star of the show is SPARTINA, Steve's Welsford Pathfinder, who turns 20 this year. So in reality we attended the SPARTINA 20.

Here's SPARTINA tucked behind VIRGINIA after Steve tied her up.

Steve and SPARTINA of course were sailing, whole everyone else was sleeping at their docks.

We couldn't go on the ships because Skipper had her brass knuckles...next she said sh'e bring her bronze knucles...

There's still time to sail up or jump on Amtrak, the Fest runs through Monday.